[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 129 (Tuesday, July 31, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5514-S5515]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      REMEMBERING HELEN SHORES LEE

 Mr. JONES. Mr. President, it is my honor today to celebrate 
the life and service of Judge Helen Shores Lee of Alabama, who died on 
July 2, 2018. The daughter of respected civil rights attorney Arthur 
Shores, Judge Lee was a civil rights advocate and pioneer in her own 
right. She was the first African-American woman to serve as judge in 
the civil division of the circuit court in Jefferson County, AL, and 
she devoted her life to making sure that all people are cared for, 
concerned about, and spoken up for.
  Helen Shores Lee lived a life of exemplary courage, dedication, and 
generosity, and I am fortunate to have known her. I am even more 
blessed to have called her my friend.
  Helen developed courage as a young girl growing up in the Smithfield 
area of Birmingham. The Shores family home was on ``Dynamite Hill,'' so 
named because of the dozens of unsolved bombings there during the civil 
rights struggles that convulsed the Birmingham area from the late 1940s 
to the 1960s. In the summer of 1963, Helen's own home was bombed twice, 
just weeks before a bomb exploded at the 16th Street Baptist Church 
nearby, killing four little girls who were her friends. Two years 
later, another bomb was discovered in the Shores' yard, but 
fortunately, that one was defused before it exploded. Despite the 
damage they caused and the terror they were intended to inspire, those 
bombs did not deter or displace the Shores family, nor did they 
dissuade the rest of the African-American community from the patient 
pursuit of equality.
  Though her father was small in stature, Judge Lee described him as a 
``giant in life.'' Helen used to tell a story about one time, when a 
car full of White men was driving around her neighborhood pointing a 
gun out the window. Frustrated and frightened, young Helen ran in the 
house and got a gun of her own. Her father followed her out onto the 
porch, took the gun from her hands, and taught her the importance of 
fighting ``the right way.''
  Judge Lee's courage was bolstered by her faith, which she also 
learned from her father. Recalling the threats and the bombings, Judge 
Lee said, ``It was our Christian faith that got us through this ordeal. 
My dad prayed constantly. We witnessed that.'' The Shores home was 
directly across the street from the First Congregational Church, where 
Shores was Sunday school superintendent, deacon, and trustee. Even at 
the end of his life, his daughters pushed him across Center Street in a 
wheelchair so he could get to church. Arthur Shores died in that house 
on Dynamite Hill, now an unofficial landmark of the civil rights 
movement.
  With her sister Barbara and author Denise George, in 2012, Judge Lee 
published ``The Gentle Giant of Dynamite Hill,'' a biography of her 
father that tells how Shores, a former high school principal, became 
one of the Nation's top civil rights attorneys. Shores handled a number 
of high-profile cases, including representing Autherine Lucy, the first 
Black student to attend the University of Alabama. Shores also 
represented the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., when he was indicted 
for leading the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
  From 1971 to 1987, Judge Lee worked as a clinical psychologist, 
serving her patients and the community with dedication and compassion. 
In 1986, she dedicated herself to a new kind of service, becoming a 
magistrate for the city of Birmingham. After graduating from the 
Cumberland School of Law in 1987, she joined her father to form Shores 
& Lee, where she practiced law until she was appointed circuit judge of 
the Tenth Judicial Court of Alabama and assumed the bench in January 
2003. She was twice reelected by the citizens of Jefferson County. 
Although she retired in 2015, Judge Lee continued to give generously of 
her time and talent to a number of organizations.
  Judge Lee's commitment to her community included serving as a member 
of the Alabama State Ethics Commission from 1996-2000 and as its 
chairwoman from 1999-2000. She also chaired the community advisory 
board of the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Minority Health and 
Research Center, she was a trustee for Leadership Birmingham, she was a 
member of the Cumberland School of Law advisory board, and she served 
on the boards of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama, Campfire, Inc., the 
Civil Rights Institute, the Young Women's Christian Association, and 
many more. In 2013, the Young Women's Christian Association of Central 
Alabama honored Judge Lee with the Jeana P.

[[Page S5515]]

Hosch Woman of Valor award for her decades of commitment to civil 
rights and community service. Samford University named her Alumnus of 
the Year in 2014.
  In addition, Judge Lee was often called on to speak about her 
experiences in the civil rights movement and the role her family played 
in moving the country to a better place. I was fortunate to share the 
stage with her many times and always marveled at how she would share 
her story with grace, compassion, and a sense of justice, not hatred or 
bitterness.
  My wife, Louise, and I extend our sincere and deep condolences to 
Judge Lee's family. The city of Birmingham and the State of Alabama are 
better for her having lived and served there and so am I.

                          ____________________